BECCA MARTIN-BROWN
bmartin@nwaonline.com
Since its inception at the beginning of 2023, Theatre Collective of Northwest Arkansas has been onstage every couple of months, producing cabarets, Edgar Allan Poe and a Christmas show, to name just a few.
For 2024, five shows were announced — a “Risque Cabaret” in February; “Love, Loss, And What I Wore” in May; “Exit, Pursued By A Bear” in August; “Heroes & Villains Cabaret” in October; and “[title of show]” in November. In between, the TCNWA board just announced, they’ll be offering a “Break A Leg” series of educational opportunities.
Q. How did the idea of the Break a Leg series come about?
Rachel Mills, Executive Director: We’ve always believed that providing more opportunities for theater is a great way to serve our community. Workshops, coaching, and meeting the needs of our amateur theater community have been on our minds from day one. We want to help people grow their skills and passion for the stage. Thanks to some fantastic local partnerships, we’ve already confirmed our first two workshops — and it only took a few days!
Q. What kinds of topics do you hope to cover? Do you have specifics for upcoming events/dates/classes?
Sarah Doyle, Board Secretary: We hope to provide Break a Leg series workshops for many facets of community and amateur theater. Whether it be movement and dance, stage combat, directing, or monologue workshops, we seek to create accessible opportunities for the seasoned and beginner performer. Right now we have the first two sessions scheduled, and we’re in the exploration stage for future workshops in 2024.
Q. Is there an area of expertise that each of the board members hopes to share with people?
Stephanie Whitcomb, Artistic Director: Our board members are amazing performers and directors with a myriad of skills to contribute to the community, but for our upcoming Break a Leg sessions, we are reaching outside of our board to some individuals with very specifically honed skills. Jennifer Stockburger is a wildly talented photographer that we’ve worked with since we started, and her eye and attention to detail will be perfect for our “Affordable Headshot” session. And we are so lucky to have Cheri Headrick lead our “Musical Theatre Audition Workshop.” She has her finger on the pulse of the Northwest Arkansas vocal performance community and is a vast wealth of knowledge that every performer can benefit from.
Q. Do you have to be a member of TCNWA to participate? How does one become a member?
Mills: You do not have to be a member of TCNWA to participate in the Break A Leg Series. However, members get early access to register for workshops before the general public and will be invited to vote on the kinds of workshops they want to see from TCNWA.
Becoming a member is a great and easy way to support TCNWA and help shape the organization. Memberships begin with a minimum $25 annual donation and come with several benefits, including advanced access to tickets, workshop registrations, and voting rights! Learn more at https://www.nwatheatrecollective.org/support/memberships.
Q. How big do you see TCNWA becoming in the future? What are your aspirations?
Whitcomb: We would love to be a major player in the Northwest Arkansas theater community. Our hope is that by growing our membership base and making their ideas and needs a priority, we can expand into doing larger shows at larger venues, and really focusing on telling the stories our community wants to tell.
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FYI
Theatre Collective:
Break A Leg Series
The first two offerings — “Affordable Headshots” (April 13; $25) and “Musical Theatre Audition Workshop” (April 26; $25-$50) — will be open to public purchase beginning at 10 a.m. March 25 at nwatheatrecollective.org.
To stay in the know about all the Break A Leg Series sessions — and everything else TCNWA — follow the nonprofit on Facebook and Instagram and sign up for the email list at nwatheatrecollective.org.
